Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who missed two games on the road trip with a lower body injury, will miss the remaining five games before the Olympic break.
Todd McLellan said the expectation is Edvinsson will be ready to return to the lineup when Detroit’s season resumes on Feb. 26.
“He is a significant piece, but we have others that are going to have to go in and play, and they’ve done that already for a couple games and done an admirable job,” McLellan said. “When you lose players, there’s all the cliches, somebody else steps up… Everybody has to pull a little harder and do a little more.”
Travis Hamonic entered the lineup after Edvinsson was hurt on the road, and the Red Wings played some musical chairs with the defensive pairings. Associate coach Trent Yawney handles the Detroit defense.
“He’s making some judgment calls,” McLellan said. “If you look at the Winnipeg game, even the Minnesota game, there’s different pairs of guys going out at different times, and I think that’ll continue.”
The Moritz Seider-Simon Edvinsson pairing was logging roughly 25 minutes per game. Ben Chiarot has played with Seider in the past, but the Red Wings have been using him with rookie Axel Sandin-Pellikka. Albert Johansson spent time with Seider over the past two games.
Edvinsson’s injury is not the kind that would prompt the Red Wings to move aggressively on a trade, according to McLellan. Even before Edvinsson was hurt, the Red Wings have been linked to the pursuit of a top four defenseman in the trade market.
“If I came in today and said, hey, Simon’s done for the season, you know, then it may change, but we’re going to get Simon
back and, it’s not like he’s going to lose his game anywhere,” McLellan said. “He’d be out for. He’s already missed two, so he’ll have
seven total games missed when he does get back. When he comes back and he begins to play, everybody will be coming off that break. So he’ll fit right in with the rhythm of the team. I don’t think it changes anything dramatically.”